WA balaclava, also known as a balaclava helmet or Bally or ski mask, is a form of cloth headgear designed to expose only part of the face, usually the eyes and mouth. Depending on style and how it is worn, only the eyes, mouth and nose, or just the front of the face are unprotected. Versions with a full face opening may be rolled into a hat to cover the crown of the head or folded down as a collar around the neck.
WA Burt strut, also known as a timing strut or beam splitter, is a black, rectangular plate attached to the front of a competition vehicle, usually a racing car, to provide a standardised, repeatable method by which to break a timing light beam at the start and finish of events timed to high-degrees of accuracy. These events are commonly those in which competitors race against the clock, rather than physically against another vehicle, such as sprint or hillclimb races. The strut was invented in 1967 by Ron Smith; manager, chief mechanic and future husband to 1970 British sprint champion Patsy Burt. As the strut made its first appearance on the front of Burt's McLaren-Oldsmobile her name was used as its official title. In recent years the generic term timing strut has also become common.
WModern drag races are started electronically by a system known as a Christmas tree. A common Christmas tree consists of a column of seven lights for each driver or lane, as well as a set of light beams across the track itself. Each side of the column of lights is the same; from the top down, there are a blue LED light set, then three amber bulbs, then a green bulb and a red bulb. The light beams are arranged with one set on the starting line, and another set 7 inches behind it.
WA driving glove is a hand covering, typically constructed of very thin, soft leather, used to give a driver increased control of the vehicle through enhanced grip of the steering wheel and gear stick. The grain present on the leather and the pores present in the leather give the gloves the unique ability to assist the wearer as they grip the steering wheel and gear stick. As soft as a leather glove may be, its pores and grain provide a level of friction when "gripped" against an item or surface.
WThe Gurney flap is a small tab projecting from the trailing edge of a wing. Typically it is set at a right angle to the pressure-side surface of the airfoil and projects 1% to 2% of the wing chord. This trailing edge device can improve the performance of a simple airfoil to nearly the same level as a complex high-performance design.
WA racing helmet is a form of protective headgear worn by racing car and rally drivers. Motor racing has long been known to be an exceptionally risky sport: sudden deceleration forces on the head can easily occur if a racing car loses control at the very high speeds of competitive motor racing or the rough terrain experienced in rallying. A risk more nearly unique to motor racing is the possibility of drastically severe burns from fuel igniting when the fuel lines or fuel tank of the vehicle are jolted sufficiently to dislodge or breach them in a situation in which the driver cannot soon enough escape from his car. This happened to world champion driver Niki Lauda at the 1976 German Grand Prix race at the Nürburgring in a crash from which he barely escaped alive.
WThe Hutchens device is a device for protecting race car drivers in the event of an accident by controlling head movement, reducing head and neck injuries due to whiplash. It consists of a series of straps, attached to the helmet and connected across the chest and at the waist, depending on the lap belt for anchoring. The device was developed beginning in 2000.
WRaceCam is a video camera system used primarily in motor racing, which uses a network of car-mounted cameras, microwave radio transmitters, and relays from helicopters to send live images from inside a race car to both pit crews and television audiences.
WA racing suit or racing overalls, often referred to as a fire suit due to its fire retardant properties, is clothing such as overalls worn in various forms of auto racing by racing drivers, crew members who work on the vehicles during races, track safety workers or marshals, and in some series commentators at the event.
WA restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to limit top speed to provide equal level of competition, and to lower costs; insurance purposes have also factored in for motorsports.
WA roof flap is an aerodynamic feature on race cars, mainly stock cars, which functions as an emergency spoiler to prevent the vehicle from lifting off the ground. The flaps are stowed during normal vehicle operation; however, in certain situations, e.g., if the vehicle goes into a spin, particularly if it is facing backwards, the flaps deploy to disrupt the air flow over the roof and reduce the lift force on the vehicle.
WThe Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier, sometimes generically referred to as a soft wall, is a technology found on oval automobile race tracks and high speed sections of road and street tracks, intended to absorb and reduce kinetic energy during the impact of a high speed crash, and thus, lessen injuries sustained to drivers and spectators. It was designed by a team of engineers led by Dean Sicking at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It was developed from 1998–2002, and first installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2002.
WThe Snell Memorial Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to provide a high quality standard of safety for helmets. Founded in 1957, the foundation is named after William "Pete" Snell, a popular sports car racer who died in 1956 of head injuries he received when the racing helmet he wore failed to protect his head. A group of friends, scientists, physicians, and others joined together to create a group that would promote research and education as well as test and develop standards to improve the effectiveness of helmets.
WA template is a device used by sanctioning body officials to check the body shape and height of racing vehicles. The template is used to check that teams have manufactured the sheet metal used in the vehicle bodies to within tight tolerances.
WA Burt strut, also known as a timing strut or beam splitter, is a black, rectangular plate attached to the front of a competition vehicle, usually a racing car, to provide a standardised, repeatable method by which to break a timing light beam at the start and finish of events timed to high-degrees of accuracy. These events are commonly those in which competitors race against the clock, rather than physically against another vehicle, such as sprint or hillclimb races. The strut was invented in 1967 by Ron Smith; manager, chief mechanic and future husband to 1970 British sprint champion Patsy Burt. As the strut made its first appearance on the front of Burt's McLaren-Oldsmobile her name was used as its official title. In recent years the generic term timing strut has also become common.